NY Giants Should Give the NFL a Full Nelson

The Giants should draft Guard Quenton Nelson from Notre Dame

by Spiro Kasabian @slickfella_spi

“I believe in the ‘hog mollies,’” Gettleman said, bringing back the old lineman term he popularized in Carolina. “We’ve had some great groups here, had great groups everywhere I’ve been, and we’re going to get back to that. They do allow you to compete.”

If you apply Dave Gettleman’s quote above to draft prospects, there is no better place to start than with Quenton Nelson. The New Jersey product and Notre Dame alum is the very definition of a Hog Mollie. He is built like a house at 6’5” 325 pounds, and Bench Pressed 225 pounds THIRTY-FIVE times. Needless to say, Quenton Nelson has the power and size to be a dominant Guard in the NFL for a long time.

To go along with the elite size and strength, Nelson also has the mind and technical side of the game down pat. We have seen first hand that strength and size aren’t the only determining factors to making a great offensive lineman (looking at you Mr. Ereck Flowers). Mentally, he makes on-field adjustments quickly and rarely misses an assignment. His mental capacity and strength allow him to compete on every play, even when beaten.

Last year at Notre Dame, Nelson did not surrender a sack or QB hit, and only allowed TWO QB hurries in 744 offensive snaps. Over his career at Notre Dame, he has allowed only 3 sacks (none of the last 2 years) and 3 hurries in total. That is production at its highest level. He was graded out to be the best Guard in the country, for those of you that pay attention to PFF.

What has been overlooked by many in the evaluation process is that Nelson came to ND as an Offensive Tackle (the 6th highest rated OT in his class). He only moved to guard to accommodate teammate Mike McGlinchey. Nelson has that much desired “versatility” trait that the Giants always covet in their lineman.

In the perfect world, the Giants are able to trade back to a Top 10 pick, acquire more picks, and select Nelson. At the end of the day though, with comparisons to Larry Allen, I don’t think any Giant fan can be too upset with getting an All-Pro level talent at Guard. The franchise wants to draft Hall of Fame talent, and Quenton Nelson is one of those talents. Guards are often not mentioned as Top 5 picks, so the fact that Nelson is being projected as a consensus Top 5-10 pick says all you need to know about his talent level.